Triangularly shaped flexible bottle with fitment, and method of fabrication

ABSTRACT

A triangularly shaped flexible bottle having a gusseted body section, and a neck section comprised of narrowed portions of the side panels and gusset of the body section, with a fitment in the neck section. The bottle has a flat bottom that may be created by tapering the webs forming the bottom at about 30 degrees. The body has a triangular cross section when filled, but may be contoured in the vertical direction. A process for fabricating the bottle is also disclosed which involves feeding webs, including a side gusset, creating perimeter seals around only the top portion of the bottle, inserting the fitment from the input end of the machine in the direction of web travel, forming the remainder of the perimeter seams, detaching the nascent bottle from the web, and sealing the neck section of the bottle to the fitment by clamping the neck section with a heated clamp, and preferably repeating the seal operation at a different radial angle. Sealing the fitment by application of ultrasonic energy is also disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

“Stand-up” plastic pouches or bottles for holding liquids and otherpourable products are becoming more popular, in part because of thedesire to minimize solid waste, in part because of cost, and in part forother reasons. An early stand-up pouch design (U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,646)was devised by the Doyen Brothers in France. That pouch design,including many variants, is still in use today. It is, in fact, thedominant style. The basic Doyen design consists of two flat sheetsseamed together along their sides, with a “W” fold running along thebottom. When the pouch is filled, the “W” opens and provides a base onwhich the pouch can stand. The original Doyen design showed the topbeing sealed straight across, but subsequent modifications includefitments to allow the pouch to be reclosed after opening.

One difficulty in adding a fitment to a Doyen pouch (and to many otherpouch designs as well) is that, according to prior art fitment sealingmethods, the fitment must be of the “canoe” style to create a joint thatcan be reliably sealed. The canoe type of fitment is an attempt tominimize the change in direction of pouch material as it comes intocontact with the fitment, and in so doing, improve the integrity of thejoint where the two sides of the pouch come together at the fitment.However, even the use of a canoe shaped fitment does not completelysolve the difficulties in sealing a fitment into a pouch, and a morereliable sealing means is desirable. The present invention, in one ofits aspects, provides such a means.

A “canoe” style fitment is characterized by having a sealing surfacethat includes relatively sharp changes in direction around the sealingperiphery so as to permit the pieces of material being sealed to thefitment to approach the fitment sealing surface (laterally) atrelatively shallow angles. Or, put another way, as two webs separate togo around the fitment in opposite directions, the angle of divergence isrelatively small. Canoe style fitments are illustrated in, e.g., U.S.Pat. No. 5,660,477, U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,085, and U.S. Pat. No.4,732,299.

There are at least two other shortcomings of Doyen style pouches withfitments, as compared with the present invention. One is that, becausethe Doyen body tapers from the bottom to the top, and the presentinvention has a body that approximates a rectangular parallelepiped, fora given volume contained, the bottle of the present invention requiressubstantially less material to fabricate. Since material cost is a largepart of the cost of flexible packaging, this is a significant factor.Another shortcoming of the Doyen style (and other ungusseted styles),compared to the present invention is that, because the upper body isfabricated from two flat sheets, when the pouch is partly full, theweight of the fitment tends to cause the top of the pouch to fold over,rather than stand erect.

Gusseted bottles (but without fitment) have been made in the past (seeU.S. Pat. No. 6,193,416, Kawamata et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,315,Ichikawa et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,984, LaFleur et al.) Obviously,without a fitment, these prior art containers do not have the utility ofthe present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,477, Ichikawa, discloses a gusseted pouch with afitment. The fitment shown has flanges protruding from the centralsection; these create even more sealing problems than a conventionalcanoe style fitment. Additionally, because of the way the top of thepouch is configured, i.e., the gussets are closed at the top, thefitment weight tends to cause this pouch to fold over when partly full,in a manner very much like a Doyen pouch with fitment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invented bottle which could, but preferably does not, utilize canoestyle fitments is fabricated from flexible films (i.e., thin plastic,foil, paper, or the like) fed as webs from rolls of material. The bottleincludes a gusseted body section that opens so as to form a triangularcross section. The gusset is terminated at the bottom of the bottle toform a substantially flat base, providing stability when the bottle ispartially or wholly filled. The top portion of the bottle includes afitment passing through a necked down portion of the bottle. The fitmentis preferably sealed to the neck in two or more sealing operationscarried out at different radial angles, preferably, but not necessarily,90°, thus assuring an adequate seal between the fitment and the bottleneck around the entire periphery of the fitment.

For purposes of clarity, as pictured herein the fitment is illustratedwithout a closure. It will be appreciated that threaded, snap, and/orother types of closures are contemplated even though none is shown inthe figures.

As opposed to requiring the use of canoe style fitments, as mentioned inthe Background section of this Specification, the present inventionpermits, and preferably utilizes, “cylindrical base” fitments. Thesealing surface (or “base”) of a cylindrical base style fitment (as thatterm is used in the present application) is preferably (but notnecessarily) substantially parallel to the axis of the fitment, as inthe canoe style, but does not include external corners at sharply acuteangles around its circumference, as do canoe style fitments. Rather, thecircumference is preferably comprised of smooth and preferably convexcurves. Having the circumference comprised of smooth curves is intendedto facilitate the sealing of web material to the base of the fitmentwith two overlapping sealing steps applied from different directions.The cross sectional shape of the sealing area of a cylindrical basefitment is preferably circular, but may be oval, or have some othercurved shape. While the word “cylindrical” is used herein to help definea “non-canoe” style of fitment, it should be understood that the fitmentmay be tapered somewhat (axially) to facilitate insertion or for otherreasons.

Alternatively, instead of the sealing surface area of a cylindrical basefitment being comprised of smooth curves, the sealing surface of acylindrical base fitment (as that term is used in this specification)may include intersections at an angle, provided that the angle is not soacute as to make a second sealing step difficult or impractical.Intersection angles that are greater than about 90° are generally deemedto be satisfactory, hence the term “cylindrical base”, as used in thisspecification, refers to the base (i.e., the sealing surface) of afitment wherein the webs of material surrounding and sealed to thefitment diverge at angles greater than about 90° as they separate toencircle the fitment. FIG. 15, which is a fragmentary sectional view ofa cylindrical base fitment, illustrates the approximate

minimum angle of approach of surfaces of what is termed here as a“cylindrical base” fitment. The base of a cylindrical base style offitment could, for example, have a hexagonal shape (in cross section).

The preferred method of fabricating the invented bottle generallycomprises:

-   -   1. feeding two or more webs of material in face to face contact        into a fabricating machine, one of the webs being folded to form        a gusset,    -   2. creating perimeter seals for the bottle around a part of the        circumference, including the neck portion of the bottle, and        shaping the bottle by cutting away areas at the edges of the        webs,    -   3. separating at least one of the incoming webs from the        remainder of the webs upstream of the neck portion and inserting        a fitment into the neck portion of the bottle, the insertion        motion being through what eventually will become the bottom of        the bottle,    -   4. forming the remainder of the perimeter seals of the bottle,    -   5. severing the bottle from the web,    -   6. clamping the bottle material to the fitment with a heated        clamping means to create a seal between the bottle material and        the fitment,    -   7. Clamping the bottle material to the fitment with a heated        clamp a second time, the second clamping being at a different        radial angle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an exploded end on view of the webs of the constituentmaterial as fed into the fabricating machine (one-up configuration).

FIG. 1B is an exploded end on view of the webs of the constituentmaterial as fed into the fabricating machine (two-up configuration).

FIG. 2 is a flattened top view of a bottle according to the invention,without fitment.

FIG. 3 is a trimetric view of a completed and filled bottle according tothe invention.

FIG. 3A is a trimetric view of a representative fitment for use in theinvented bottle.

FIGS. 4 through 9 are schematic views of various steps of the presentlypreferred fabricating process, as performed in a fabricating machine.The Figures marked “A” are top views of the web during the process step,whereas those marked “B” are side views at the same point in time.

FIG. 10 depicts a seam pattern made by the seaming iron in accordancewith one embodiment of the fabricating machine.

FIG. 11A is a top view of the seaming clamp used to create a sealbetween the bottle neck and the fitment, in an open condition.

FIG. 11B is a top view of the seaming clamp used to create a sealbetween the bottle neck and the fitment, in the closed condition.

FIG. 12 depicts an alternate seaming pattern made by the seaming iron.

FIGS. 13 is a flattened plan view of an alternate embodiment of theinvented bottle that includes a handle portion.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a flattened bottle according to anotherembodiment of the invention, without the fitment.

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view of the base section of a fitmentwhich could be used in connection with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invented bottle is intended to be fabricated from webs of flexibleheat sealable plastic, foil, paper, or similar material. Two or threewebs may be involved in “one-up” fabrication, or two to four webs may beinvolved in “two-up” fabrication. The number of webs used in each caseis a matter of convenience.

There are many different web material compositions that could besuitable for the invented bottle, depending on the circumstances, andall of the webs do not necessarily have the same composition. It may,for example, be desirable to have some portions of the completed bottlestiffer than others, which can be accomplished by having differingcompositions, or by differing web thicknesses. Or, it may be desiredthat one or more faces of the bottle be foil, while the others areplastic. Other factors may also dictate differences in web composition.

In addition to any requirements that may be imposed on the materials bythe proposed use of the bottle, in order to be amenable to the preferredmethod of manufacture as described below, a composite sheet is generallyused. It is preferable that the sheets (or webs) have one heat sealablesurface, and the other not heat sealable. In other words, the sheetsused should be such that one face of a first sheet is heat sealable toan abutting face of a second sheet, whereas the second face of the firstsheet will not form a bond to the second face of the second sheet (atleast not at the temperatures and pressures used to bond the firstfaces). It will be appreciated that the preferred method of manufacturecould be modified to permit the use of materials, both faces of whichare heat sealable.

One material that has been found to work well for fabricating items suchas the invented bottle is a polyester sheet having a coating of lowdensity polyethylene on one face. Many other materials are alsosuitable, the one mentioned being merely illustrative. The low densitypolyethylene coating has the property of being able to be sealed to alike coating on another sheet, but the polyester base sheet will notseal to another sheet of polyester. This selective sealing property ofthe film used permits gussets in the web to be conveniently formed,(i.e., without sealing the inside faces of the gussets to each other),yet permitting other laminations to be sealed to the gussets, as will bedescribed below.

In the description which follows, the invented bottle is described asthough it were fabricated from three webs (in a “one-up” configuration),but it will be appreciated that it is contemplated that fabrication inaccordance with the method described could be accomplished using as fewas two webs. Or, alternatively, the bottle can be fabricated “two-up”using two to four webs. For descriptive purposes, the webs during thecourse of fabrication will be referred to as “top”, “bottom”, and“center”, corresponding to their relative positions when passing throughthe first stages of fabrication. After fabrication, what were originallythe top and bottom webs (sometimes called laminations), will form twoside panels of the completed bottle, and will also form part of the topand bottom portions of the bottle. The center web (the gusset) will formthe other side panel, and also be part of the top and bottom portions ofthe bottle. The neck, being a part of the top portion of the bottle, isformed from extensions of the front, back, and gusseted side panel.

FIG. 1A shows the relative positions of the various webs (in a “one-up”configuration) as they pass through the fabrication process. Forclarity, the webs are shown separated and the seams not made. Theconstituent webs are top web 11, bottom web 12, and center web 13. Thecenter web is folded, and forms a gusset in the finished product. Thenumeral 13C indicates the inner extent of the gusset fold.

While the webs 11, 12, and 13 are discussed herein as if they wereseparate pieces of material at the outset, it will be appreciated thatany number of the seams between the webs could be “pre-made”, as byfolding one or more of the source webs to create the effect of a seam orseams. For example, if it were desired to fabricate the invented bottlefrom two webs instead of three, the bottom and center webs could be asingle folded web, instead of two separate webs.

It will be appreciated that when the bottle is complete, and containsliquid, the gusset will be open, and the bottle will have asubstantially triangular shape in cross section. Also, as will be notedbelow, even though the cross section is substantially triangular, thebody of the bottle may be shaped with pleasing curves in the verticaldirection. When partially or completely full, the invented bottle isremarkably stable.

The faces of the top and bottom webs 11 and 12 that are coated withsealable material, (i.e. the low density polyethylene in the case of theillustrative web material) face toward the interior of the bottle,whereas the coated face of the center web 13 faces outward of thegusset. Hence, it will be appreciated that when a sandwich including allof the webs is subjected to heat and pressure, only those faces whichare coated with low density polyethylene will form seams, and the insidesurface of the gusset (which is not coated) will not adhere.

FIG. 2 depicts the outline of a completed bottle, (except without thefitment), and with the gusset folded. What can be seen is top web 11,and the seam pattern 15. Section 1 is a portion of what will become thebottom, Section 2 is what will become the front panel, section 3 is aportion of the transition section, and section 4 is a portion of thebottle neck (where the fitment is placed). The dashed line 13C indicatesthe fold of the gusset. The edges of the webs at section 1 preferablytaper inward at approximately a 30° angle, terminating at approximatelythe inside edge of the gusset. Alternatively, the bottom could be cutstraight across, without the 30° cuts. A bottle made in this mannerwould unfold to a flat bottom, as does the 30° cut embodiment, but ithas been found that such a bottom does not contribute to quite as stablea structure as does the 30° cut bottom.

FIG. 3 is a trimetric view of one embodiment of a completed bottle as itwould appear filled (partially or completely) with liquid or otherflowable product. Side panel 21 (a part of web 11 during fabrication) isvisible, as is transition section 26, neck 27, and fitment 28. Thegusset 13 which was the center web 13 during fabrication can be seen asside panel 23. The other side panel (22) cannot be seen. FIG. 3A is atrimetric view of a representative fitment 28, with the numeral 28Aindicating the base of the fitment. A round base is illustrated, but asnoted above, other shapes are also contemplated.

A presently preferred method of fabricating the invented bottle isillustrated in FIGS. 4 through 9. The “A” portion of each figure is aplan view showing the webs at a particular stage in the fabricationprocess as the webs pass through the fabricating machine, while the “B”portion is a side view. In order to promote clarity, all figures aresomewhat schematic in nature. Since fabrication is a continuousrepetitive process, the point in the process where explanation starts issomewhat arbitrary.

In general terms, the fabrication process proceeds as follows:

-   -   1. The perimeter seams which form the top portion of a bottle        are formed (by the application of heat and pressure, or        alternatively by ultrasonic or other means), and at the same        time the extra material around the neck and the transition        section is removed by “notching” the edges of the webs.    -   2. The fitment is inserted.    -   3. The partially formed bottle is then moved forward and        attached to a suitable transport mechanism, for example the        “turret” illustrated in the drawings.    -   4. The remainder of the perimeter seams are formed (i.e., the        bottom portion—as well as the top portion for the next bottle)        and the bottle is detached from the web.    -   5. The nascent bottles are moved to the next station (i.e., the        turret is rotated) and the joint between the neck of the bottle        and the fitment is sealed in two operations, the bottle being        turned (preferably about) 90 degrees between sealing operations.        Alternatively, of course, the sealing mechanisms (or possibly a        single mechanism) could apply the pressure from differing        angles.

For greater detail of the fabrication process, first refer to FIG. 4,where the webs 11, 12, and 13 are seen being fed into the fabricatingmachine around a pair of idler rolls 40. A first nascent bottle 41 isseen being held at the end of an arm 47 of turret 42 at station A (theholding means (48) will be described later). At the time depicted inFIG. 4, the top portion of the perimeter seams for bottle 41 have beenformed, and the fitment 28 has been placed, but the bottom portion ofthe bottle is still unseamed. Partially completed bottles 43 and 44 areattached to the turret at stations B and C. Turret 42 is rotatable bymeans not shown.

The next step, as shown in FIG. 5, seaming iron 51 has closed on theweb, and is forming the top portion of the perimeter seams (15) for thenext bottle (52), as well as the bottom portion of the perimeter seamsfor the bottle 41. When seaming iron 51 clamps the webs together, asnoted previously, the inside surface of the gusset (not being coated)will not adhere, but seams will be formed between the gusset materialand the top and bottom webs (since these abutting faces are coated withsealable material).

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary pattern of the perimeter seams 15formed by seaming iron 51. The numeral 15A indicates the seams for thetop portion of one bottle, while 15B indicates the seams for the bottomportion of the prior bottle. For clarity, only the seams made at oneclosing of seaming iron 51 are shown in the figure.

At the same time as the perimeter seams are being formed by seaming iron51 (as illustrated in FIG. 5), a notching means—which may be integralwith the seaming iron—cuts the extraneous material (indicated by thenumeral 53) from around the neck and transition areas of the bottlebeing formed, and also severs the web between bottles 41 and 52. Theextraneous material (53) is commonly removed from the area by a vacuumsystem, and is discarded.

After the perimeter seams have been formed as described in the precedingparagraphs, and the web severed, the turret is rotated so that bottle41, which was at station A, is rotated 60° (counterclockwise as viewedin the drawings) to station B. As the turret rotates, the seaming iron51 members separate, as do the rollers comprising idler rolls 40. Thisis illustrated in FIG. 6.

When the idler rolls 40 are far enough apart, fitment driver 71 drivesmandrel 72 (which has a fitment 28 positioned on its end) in through theopen bottom of the bottle in process, and positions the fitment in theneck portion of the bottle (FIG. 7). Fitment handling and positioning onthe mandrels such as mandrel 72 is known in the art and therefore is notfurther described. The fitment should fit reasonably closely to the neckportion of the bottle so that wrinkles do not appear when the neck issealed to the fitment. The maximum looseness of fit depends in greatmeasure on the particular circumstances, but in general, if the innercircumference of the neck is more than about 3% larger than thecircumference of the base of the fitment, there is a danger ofwrinkling. It may be desired to taper the base of fitment 28 somewhat asan aid to fitting it into the neck,

After the fitment 28 is in place, clamp 81 (FIG. 8) clamps the bottleneck 27 to the fitment 28. Clamp 81 is preferably heated so that a first(at least temporary) bonding of the bottle material to the fitment isaccomplished. Clamp 81 is then moved to engage the fitment with an armof the turret (FIG. 9). The end 48 of the arm on which the bottle isheld, is preferably split, is compliant, and has a slightly largerdiameter at its end than the hole in the fitment (so as to hold thefitment from the inside). As the clamp 81 moves the nascent bottle tothe position shown in FIG. 9, the idler rolls 40 turn as the materialfeeds.

After the bottle is in position and held by end 48, mandrel 72 isretracted. The clamp 81 is then released and moved back to its at restposition and a new fitment is positioned on the end of mandrel 72 (notillustrated).

At the end of the step described in connection with FIG. 9, the nascentbottle 52 that is held by an arm of the turret at station A is in samecondition as bottle 41 was just before the step described in connectionwith FIG. 4. The next step, therefore, is to repeat the step of FIG. 4by closing the idler rolls 40, following which the seaming iron 51 willcreate another set of perimeter seals, etc.

Stepping back to the time just after the rotation of the turret 42 tothe position shown in FIG. 7, bottles 41, 43, and 44 can be seenattached at the ends of the arms 47 of the turret at stations B, C, andD. Bottle 44 is pulled off the turret leg at this time (by means notshown) and transferred to a packing station or to a bottle fillingstation.

A heated clamp 111 (as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B) is located at each ofstations B and C. When the turret is stopped during the steps of FIGS.7, 8, 9, 4, and 5, both clamps 111 are closed around the base 28A offitment 28 of the bottles which are then at stations B and C, asindicated in FIG. 11B, creating seals between the neck and the fitment.Just before the turret begins to turn again (FIG. 7), the clamps open(FIG. 11A) to allow the turret to move. For clarity, the clamps 111 arenot shown in FIGS. 4-9.

Alternatively, instead of using heat and pressure, as applied by heatedclamp 111, to seal the bottle neck to the fitment, the seals can beeffected by applying ultrasonic energy to the interface. Similarly, theperimeter seams also may be made by using ultrasonic energy. Ultrasonicsealing is well known, and need not be described further.

The ends of the turret arms 47 are rotatable with respect to the arms,and, to effect such rotation, each end includes a gear or friction wheel45 that engages a mating rack or friction pad 46 fastened to the machineframe between stations B and C. The length of the rack 46 is such thateach arm end (and attached bottle) turns about 90° between stations Band C. The heated clamps 111 at stations B and C (which are heated hotenough, and apply sufficient clamping pressure to form a seal betweenthe web material and the fitment) therefore provide a uniform sealbetween the neck of the bottle 27 and the fitment 28 around thecircumference.

The use of two heated clamps to apply pressure to the sealing area atdifferent radial angles assures that the needed sealing pressure isexerted on the fitment at all areas around the entire circumference, andthereby provides complete and reliable sealing. It will be appreciatedthat since clamp 81 can be utilized to provide the first sealing step,adequate two-step sealing can be achieved, if desired, using only clamp81 and one clamp 111. In such case, turning of the bottle betweensealing steps would not be necessary.

As an alternate, instead of turning the bottles, two clamps 111 could bepositioned so as to apply clamping force from different directions. Yetanother alternate method of sealing, that would be suitable for use withsymmetrical fitments, would be to use only one heated clamp, actuatingit twice, and causing it move angularly between actuations.

FIG. 12 depicts an alternate configuration of the seaming pattern forthe perimeter seams. In the case of FIG. 12, the portion 2 (as shown inFIG. 2) is formed at the same time as portion 1 is formed, rather thanat the time portions 3 and 4 are formed. Forming the seams in thismanner will involve some differences in timing of the process, as willbe apparent to those skilled in the art, but can be accommodated, ifdeemed convenient.

FIG. 13 shows a flattened bottle as in FIG. 2, but with a handle 134adjacent to the neck portion. Hole 133 provides a place to hook a fingerso as to enable a user to easily hold the bottle.

FIG. 14 is intended to show that the body of the invented bottle neednot be simply cylindrical (when filled). While a horizontal crosssection of the body is triangular, the body (vertically) may have apleasing shape, as illustrated in FIG. 14, where a bottle 141 is shownwith its sides notched out (as indicated by the numeral 142) providingan “hour glass” or other desirable shape. The notching preferably isaccomplished at the same time as material 53 is cut away. The bottle ofFIG. 14 is shown in the same condition as the bottle of FIG. 2, namelyflat, and without fitment inserted.

For explanatory purposes, FIGS. 4-9 and 13 show a “turret” type ofdevice for holding the bottles at spaced stations A, B, C, and D, andtransporting them between stations. It will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that other suitable transport means could be used toaccomplish the same function, i.e., a chain running around a pair ofsprockets, a carousel, pallets travelling down a track, or other means.

At the outset, reference was made to the possibility of fabricating theinvented bottle “two-up”. FIG. 1B depicts a web configuration that couldbe used for “two-up” production. Webs 11A, and 12A correspond to webs 11and 12 of FIG. 1A, but two gussets 13A and 13B are shown instead of thesingle gusset 13 of FIG. 1A. It will be appreciated that by slitting theweb configuration depicted in FIG. 1B down the middle, two webs of theconfiguration shown in FIG. 1A will be created. Hence, the webconfiguration shown in FIG. 1B can result in two lines proceeding sideby side, utilizing two turrets, two fitment arms, etc. Of course, atsome point during fabrication, preferably just before attachment of thenascent bottles to the turret, the web must be slit into two parallelwebs. Slitting webs is a common procedure in the art, and, accordingly,need not be discussed in detail.

What has been described is a novel flexible bottle, with a fitment, anda method for fabricating same. These have been described in detail withreference to specific embodiments. Persons skilled in the art will, nodoubt, utilize the principles disclosed herein in connection withembodiments differing in some details from those described, butnevertheless within the spirit of the invention as defined in the belowclaims. Such changed embodiments, as well as such changes in the processof making the invented bottle as will occur to those skilled in the art,are intended to be covered by the following claims, which define theinvention.

1. A triangularly shaped bottle fabricated from flexible webs andincluding a fitment which comprises: a bottom section; a body sectioncomprising a front side panel, a rear side panel, and one gusseted sidepanel, each of said front side panel, rear side panel and gusseted sidepanel having predetermined widths; a neck section formed from extendedportions of said front and rear side panels and extended portions ofsaid gusseted side panel, the widths of said extended portions of saidfront and rear side panels and said gusseted side panel being reduced atsaid neck section; a tapered transition section between said bodysection and said neck section; and a fitment positioned within said necksection, and sealed to said extended portions of said front and rearside panels and to said extended portions of said gusseted side panel.2. A triangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 1 wherein said necksection is sealed to said fitment by applying heat and pressure to saidneck section against said fitment at least two times and from at leasttwo different angular directions.
 3. A triangularly shaped bottle asrecited in claim 2 wherein at least two of said applications of heat andpressure are applied from directions which differ by about 90 degrees.4. A triangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 1 wherein said necksection is sealed to said fitment by applying ultrasonic energy to theinterface between said neck section and said fitment.
 5. A triangularlyshaped bottle as recited in claim 1 wherein the side edges of said frontside panel, said rear side panel, and said gusseted side panel arecontoured.
 6. A triangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 1 whereinsaid bottom portion is formed from extended portions of said front andrear side panels and said gusseted side panel, the edges of saidextended portions tapering at an angle of about 30 degrees.
 7. Atriangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 1 and further including ahandle portion extending from said transition and neck sections.
 8. Atriangularly shaped bottle fabricated from flexible webs and including afitment having a cylindrical base which comprises: a bottom section; abody section comprising a front side panel, a rear side panel, and onegusseted side panel, each of said front side panel, rear side panel andgusseted side panel having predetermined widths; a neck section formedfrom extended portions of said front and rear side panels and extendedportions of said gusseted side panel, the widths of said extendedportions of said front and rear side panels and gusseted side panelbeing reduced at said neck section; a tapered transition section betweensaid body section and said neck section; and a fitment having acylindrical base positioned within said neck section, said cylindricalbase being sealed to said extended portions of said front and rear sidepanels and to said extended portions of said gusseted side panel.
 9. Atriangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 8 wherein said necksection is sealed to said cylindrical base by the application of heatand pressure.
 10. A triangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 9wherein said heat and pressure is applied more than one time, and atleast two of said applications of heat and pressure are applied fromdirections which differ by about 90 degrees.
 11. A triangularly shapedbottle as recited in claim 8 wherein said neck section is sealed to saidfitment by applying ultrasonic energy to the interface between said necksection and said cylindrical base.
 12. A triangularly shaped bottle asrecited in claim 8 wherein the side edges of said front side panel, saidrear side panel, and said gusseted side panel are contoured.
 13. Atriangularly shaped bottle as recited in claim 8 wherein said bottomportion is formed from extended portions of said front and rear panelsand said gusseted side panel, the edges of said extended portionstapering at an angle of about 30 degrees.
 14. A triangularly shapedbottle as recited in claim 8 and further including a handle portionextending from said transition and neck sections.